Micromax appoints Shubhajit Sen as its CMO

Home-grown handset and tablet manufacturer Micromax Informatics Ltd has appointed Shubhajit Sen as its chief marketing officer (CMO). In his new role, Sen will lead all marketing efforts for the company across markets while strengthening the overall brand communication.

He replaces Shubhodip Pal, who had joined Micromax as its CMO back in 2012.

Commenting on the appointment, Vineet Taneja, CEO of Micromax said, "As Micromax opens a new chapter in its growth trajectory, we welcome Sen on board with us as the new CMO. We believe that his passion for technology will help ensure that Micromax continues to deliver innovations that have an impact on people's lives."

"As a marketer, I have always believed in consumer centricity and Micromax has consistently understood, anticipated, and shaped consumer's expectations of the category better than competition. I look forward to building the Micromax brand philosophy further in its next phase of growth," added Sen.

Sen has over 22 years of experience and prior to Micromax, he was the executive vice president– marketing at GlaxoSmithKline Consumer Healthcare Ltd. He had joined the company back in 1992 as a management trainee and advanced through the organisation, donning various hats through the journey both nationally and globally. An Economics graduate from SRCC, Delhi University, Sen also holds an MBA from IIM-Ahmedabad.

In November last year, Micromax had appointed Amarinder S Dhaliwal as the chief operating officer (COO) of its new sub-brand 'YU'. In his role, Dhaliwal is working closely with Rahul Sharma, co-founder Micromax, to build a digital brand that engages directly with the user community.

Prior to that, the company had appointed Sanjay Kapoor, former CEO of Bharti Airtel, as chairman of its board in June 2014. Kapoor's induction had come barely days after the firm roped in Taneja, former country head (IT & mobile businesses) at Samsung India, as its chief executive.

According to a recent report released by CyberMedia Research (CMR), India's overall mobile handsets shipments in the calendar year (CY) 2014 stood at 257 million units. While Samsung emerged as the overall leader, Micromax came second with 13.3 per cent market share. The company's market share gained primarily in Q2, 2014, but then continued to remain flat during the rest of the year. It was the only player among the top three to improve its market share.

Micromax was also able to retain its number two position in the smartphone segment throughout the year despite stiff competition at the hands of Chinese brands/OEMs as well as a few Indian brands.